DLT reminds U community to guard against Zoom bombing

UIT Digital Learning Technologies (DLT) urges University of Utah community members to guard against malicious gate-crashers who exploit online collaboration and video conferencing tools.

On Zoom, in particular, uninvited guests may take advantage of users’ lax or default settings to share their screens, often disrupting the session with unwanted images, videos, chat messages, and posts — a form of digital harassment known as “Zoom bombing.”

“Our hope is that the more people learn how to maximize the IT security potential of the software, the fewer disruptions our online learning and meeting spaces will experience,” said Adam Stewart, associate director for DLT AV & Technology Services.

Though a passcode is set as a default unless a host disables the setting when creating the meeting, instructors who use Zoom, via Canvas or otherwise, should be aware that the “Only authenticated users can join” setting must be selected manually. By choosing utah.edu from the dropdown menu, participants are required to sign in to Zoom using a utah.edu email address.

The best way to prevent Zoom bombing is not to share meeting links publicly. Canvas requires authentication to access a course and Zoom link, but if the link is shared outside of Canvas, it’s not protected unless the meeting has passcodes, authentication, or other IT security settings activated. 

At the first sign of trouble, a host can navigate to “Host tools” and “Suspend all participant activities.” This option mutes all participants, stops video and screen sharing, closes breakout rooms, and locks the meeting.

Access this DLT Knowledge Base article for other tips and  for keeping  Zoom meetings secure. 

If you’re an instructor with general questions about using Zoom via Canvas, access this DLT Knowledge Base article or email classhelp@utah.edu.

 

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